Greetings!
Thought you might be interested in this post at BlueOregon.com on a bill I worked on in 2009 with former police lieutenant Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), prosecutor Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) and my fellow co-chair of the Public Safety Subcommittee of Ways and Means Sen. Joanne Verger (D-Coos Bay).
You can read the full post by Charlie Burr at Blue Oregon by clicking here:
The bill, HB 3508, was the compromise omnibus sentencing bill for the session that is saving an estimated $49.6 million for other public safety priorities like services for domestic violence survivors.
The bill was passed by a bipartisan two-thirds majority of both houses of the Oregon legislature. Oregon's more reasonable District Attorneys like Deschutes District Attorney Mike Dugan supported it. DA Dugan wrote an op-ed in support of HB 3508 on June 23. You can read it by clicking here (subscription required). Dugan wrote:
Public safety is being held hostage to the politics of partisan campaign rhetoric. Are you tough on crime or soft on crime? Can we make our opponent look weak for the next election cycle?
The House leadership put forth House Bill 3508 last week in an effort to be smart on crime and sensible with the public safety budget. HB 3508 provided for a phase-in of voter-approved Measure 57, the repeat property offender law. HB 3508 also provided for a 10 percent increase in earned time for good behavior for current and incoming prison inmates. The bill also found other savings, which would be used to shore up public safety in important areas. Notably, the additional savings would have been used to fund Oregon State Police and provide for 24/7 coverage across the state...
Dugan called HB 3508 ..."A sensible proposal that maintained critical public safety services, increased enforcement by adding Oregon State Troopers, phased in the voter-approved repeat property offender law, protected drug treatment courts, and protected the Youth Authority training facility seems reasonably calculated to preserve our vital public safety programs...The political posturing engaged in the (initial) defeat of HB 3508, in the end, hurts the public.
The bill passed on its second vote.
You can read the full post by Charlie Burr at Blue Oregon by clicking here:
You can read more about how expanding earned time to 50 percent in Washington saved funds for other public safety concerns without compromising public safety, by clicking here:
Prozanski: Smart on crime measure increases public safety, reduces taxpayer expense:
The Oregon Legislature last session faced the choices of cutting funds for schools, universities, highways, the environment, economic development, the elderly, the sick, the disabled, public safety and our state prison system. We chose a balanced approach of budget cuts ($2 billion) and tax increases ($734 million), with tax increases limited to those most able to afford them.
This balanced approach included reduced funding for the Department of Corrections, which accounts for approximately 62 percent of Oregon's public safety budget. Over the last 20 years, the department's budget has quadrupled, making it one of the fastest-growing state budgets.
The state spends more general fund dollars on prisons than it does on higher education. Oregon's prison system has grown from 4,800 beds in 1989 to more than 13,800 beds today.
A significant portion of this growth can be attributed to a 1994 ballot initiative that lengthened prison sentences and eliminated judicial discretion, but did not provide funding to pay for more prisoners.
The only way to reduce significantly the corrections budget is to reduce the number of inmates. We cannot shut prisons down for a day, as can be done with other state agencies. We cannot reduce the already-low - less than $3 a day - cost of food, cut medical expenses for inmates, or overcrowd the prisons without having a federal judge take over our prison system, as has happened in California. A federal takeover would be disastrous, amounting to a financial black hole for Oregon, just like California faces.
One way to cut prison costs responsibly is to reduce prison sentences for eligible inmates who earn time by displaying good behavior or successfully participating in programs. For more than 20 years, Oregon has allowed some inmates to reduce the length of their prison sentences through earned time.
We will be working to improve the bill during the February session.
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